


The After

by jellfish



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Alcohol, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, actual plot will start soon, supportive dadsona
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 22:21:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11633121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jellfish/pseuds/jellfish
Summary: I was willing to wait. I meant it when I said that. Two months from Amanda’s graduation party I was perfectly okay with being the greatest friend, the friend-iest friend who ever friended…well ‘okay’ is a stretch. It was manageable. Difficult sure; spending time with someone you not only wanted to climb like a tree but also had intense non platonic feelings for was as times (I’m not going to lie) painful.Like shards of glass in your throat every time they spoke because goddamn their voice was sexy, and like two hands physically ripping your heart in separate directions when you saw them struggling to get out of bed, or when you could hear the self-loathing in their voice, because they didn’t deserve this and it hurt to see and…yeah you get the idea. Turns out I only needed to wait three months.





	The After

**Author's Note:**

> So this is following Robert's good ending - I'm purposely vague when describing Dadsona but his name (rarely mentioned) is Artemis and he has pale blue hair.  
> Robert just deserves happiness I swear...!

I was willing to wait. I meant it when I said that. Two months from Amanda’s graduation party I was perfectly okay with being the greatest friend, the friend-iest friend who ever friended…well ‘okay’ is a stretch. It was manageable. Difficult sure; spending time with someone you not only wanted to climb like a tree but also had intense non platonic feelings for was as times (I’m not going to lie) painful.  
Like shards of glass in your throat every time they spoke because goddamn their voice was sexy, and like two hands physically ripping your heart in separate directions when you saw them struggling to get out of bed, or when you could hear the self-loathing in their voice, because they didn’t deserve this and it hurt to see and…yeah you get the idea. Turns out I only needed to wait three months.

I wasn’t even sure if he still felt the same way, I mean why would he? He was a tall glass of water and I was…me. This wasn’t important though, Robert was. He needed a friend and I appreciated that. I was willing to be anything to help that man, and as unhealthy as it seems, my feelings weren’t a priority. His health and happiness were.  
Which is why it was such a shock when three months after Amanda’s graduation he’d looked me dead in the eye and said:

“I think I’m ready to…I know I said I had things to work on. You know this, you’ve seen me trying you’ve…” he’d looked away at this point, hand running nervously through his hair. I’d waited for him to continue but I’d felt my heart beating in my throat. 

We’d gone out in his truck. A tradition of sorts had been formed; he’d messaged in regards to another ghost hunt. In other words we wandered around in the dark. I understood he’d wanted the company, wanted the stability of someone he could rely on, which was why no matter what time he messaged I’d respond.  
That night we’d been chatting. We’d been sitting on his truck, the only light the gentle illumination of the moon and the occasional burst from my phone screen as I showed him photos and texts from Amanda. They were mainly of or about dogs. It was generic conversation really, but the atmosphere was relaxed and comfortable, which was why the sudden change of pace had been a total shock. 

“I want to try. I’m not perfect, but you make me want to… to try, to be a better me. So if you’d let me I’d…” he’d looked at me. I’d felt myself tremble slightly as I looked into his eyes. I wanted this. I wanted this so badly.

“Robert…” his name came out as a whisper. My tongue felt like lead. 

“I just can’t have you as a friend,” in that moment my heart had dropped; was this it, was he leaving? Had I fucked it up somehow? I’d felt the heat behind my eyes build.

“What?” I’d asked; I remember I’d had to force myself to speak. It was like my throat had seized. I’d watched as his eyes widened.

“No, no I don’t mean,” he’d sighed, his hand back to nervously running through his hair, the other drumming lightly along the metal of the truck. “I’m not good at this, at saying how I…,” 

At this I’d edged closer, gently taking his shoulder in my hand. I’d began to speak to him calmly, forcing myself to ignore the panic circulating through my body.

“Robert, it’s okay. I understand, you need time. You said you needed a friend and I’m okay with that…” 

“But I’m not!” he’d cut across me, voice taking on an almost desperate note. I remember him grasping my upper arms gently but firmly, as though he could force me to listen to him. Like I wasn’t already focused on everything he said. 

“I don’t want to wait anymore. I want us to be more. To be something,” at this he let his arms fall “I mean…if you still want that,”

I remember reaching for him. Wrapping my arms around him as though he might disappear at any moment, feeling his arms wrap back just as tightly if not more. I’d replied with a chorus of ‘yes’s’ mixed with laughter that had probably blurred into one jumbled cacophony of sound. But yeah. We’d started dating. 

By which I mean we still went out in the early hours of the morning in his truck to trek through the countryside and hunt for ghosts, but now it meant I could hold his hand doing so. And it felt so good; the amount of times I’d wanted to reach out and hold his hand, to gently thread our fingers together. And now I can. I can reach out to touch his hair (though he’d said if I ever gave him a middle parting again he’d make good use of his knives on my own hair). When I’m cold and we’re out, he’ll put his arm round me without a word, pulling me closer. It’s so sweet it makes my teeth ache. 

As much as he says I’ve been helping him, I don’t know what I’d be doing without him. Well…I sort of do. Probably eating ice-cream, crying, watching reruns of Long Haul Ice Road Paranormal Ghost Truckers regretting the fact I don’t currently own five dogs of varying size. I’ve been missing Amanda. She’s been so good to me, texting every day, sending photos and more of those memes she told me about, but I can’t help miss her. Robert he’s….let’s just say our late night ghost hunts have been good for both of us. 

More recently it’s been less late night more moving towards evening and the occasional morning after. Robert doesn’t stay over constantly, nor am I always at his; he needs his space and I respect that. Sometimes he needs to be alone, but he lets me know not to worry with a quick message and I appreciate that. 

Currently he’s been out of town for a couple of days. Having been making an effort to message Val and heal some of the rifts in their relationship, she’d insisted he finally meet her girlfriend. My toes curl with happiness just thinking about it; I’m so proud of him. Of both of them. Hell I’m just proud in general. 

This weekend happens to be the weekend that Amanda is finally visiting; with a few days free for study she’s down for the week. I’d been worried about the journey time and if it was worth it for only a few days (it’s a ten hour journey. Ten hours) but she’d insisted. So I’m here thinking about how lucky I am. My daughter will be here any minute and my boyfriend is making huge steps in his daughter’s life. Part of me is elated and wants to dance around shoving my happiness into the faces of everyone I see…the other more nervous part of me is terrified. T e r r i f i e d. It’s like nothing should be this good, something is surely going to happen. As much as I hate this part of me, this pessimism, there’s a part of me that feels like it’s rational. I mean, looking back I’ve always felt this way, like something bad would happen, something would go wrong. The problem is something always did happen, always did go wrong. So I feel pretty justified in my paranoia.  
Nope. Nope. Not thinking about it, about…

Ahhh, I’m back to biting my fingers again. Amanda is going to chew me out for it, for sure. Heh.  
I hear a car on the drive. My negative thoughts are pushed back into their usual home at the back of my mind and I focus on where I am. I’m home. My daughter has just arrived home. Amanda… I find myself unable to contain a grin. She’s home. The door swings open.

“Hey pops,” Amanda grins, and I’m reaching out before she’s even fully in the doorway.

“Manda bear,” I hug her tight, breathe in her scent. She’s home, she’s safe. “I missed you,” I hold her for a moment before letting her step back. 

“Missed you too dad,” she says shutting the door behind her. “So, have you managed to become a fully functioning social butterfly in my absence?” she grins cheekily. 

“Rude,” I sniff “I’ll have you know daughter, in your absence this house has become a hotspot for social activities,” 

“Reeally, and what activities would these be?” she raises a brow. Quick, think of something social. 

“Only the most social of activities in this household…it was only the other day I hosted the towns very own ritual sacrifice,” 

“Sacrifice huh? Who was the unlucky victim?” Amanda asks. I can hear the grin in her voice; she’s made her way to the fridge and is already rooting through for something edible. 

“Alas, it was our towns beloved Quizmaster Quinn, may his soul rest in peace and his timely demise ensure our crops grow strong,” I sigh dramatically. Amanda laughs heartily.

“I can’t believe you started a cult…without me!” she shakes her head “I thought we were a team,” I sigh.

“I guess I thought you weren’t,” I pause for dramatic effect “cult-ured enough,” 

Amanda groans. I feel my dad powers increasing.

“Seriously dad? It’s been barely five minutes,” 

“Gotta keep my pun game at its best,” I grin. I’m racking my brain for a follow on pun when Amanda interrupts.

“Serious though dad. You been okay?” she has a serious look on her face, her brow furrowed slightly. If I had a love meter it would be filling up right now.

“Yeah sweet pea. I’ve been good. Really good,” I can’t help the smile that appears as I think of the reason why I am so good. The very handsome reason. 

“So you’ve finally hooked up with Robert,” Amanda responds, nodding. I squawk. 

“Wh—how did?”

“I can’t believe you’re even asking me this,” she pulls out her phone “you mention him in literally every single text. Sometimes more than once,” she points at a random text “you could definitely market these texts as a drinking game, one shot every mention of Robert, down your drink if it’s more than once,”  
I feel my ears heat up.

“…not all I text about...” I mutter. Amanda laughs. Loudly. 

“Dad. I’m happy for you,” she smiles sincerely before nudging me lightly “now as part of your fatherly duties, help me grab my stuff out the car,”

“Of course daughter, lead the way,” I bow with a flourish, ignoring the fact my ears still burn. She snorts.

“Damien been teaching you his ways?” she asks as we begin to head out the door. I laugh.

“You know as well as I know, that I could never be that classy,” 

We grab her suitcase from the trunk (well, I grab it and Amanda grabs a much lighter tote bag).

“That’s true,” she nods “but you’ve got an endearing awkwardness about you that Damien could never hope to achieve,”

“Hmm so you say,” I shrug, pulling the suitcase into the house and closing the door. She turns with a grin.

“So I know! Now what do you say we settle down for some classic reality TV,” 

I think about it. I really want to know how she’s been doing at college. I know I get regular updates but I want to hear it face to face. 

“On one condition,” I say.

“Whaaat?” she asks, sounding every bit as though I’m depriving her of her reality television…which I guess I am? 

“You tell me all about college later. I get to ask lots of questions, you get to answer lots of questions and you get one very happy dad,”  
“Sure dad,” she smiles. I resist the urge to hug her for a ridiculously long amount of time and we both head over to the sofa, reality TV calling out to us.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“How did it go?” I ask.

I’m in bed. Robert called around half one in the morning, and despite being woken up I’m feeling pretty awake. I was anxious to hear how he was anyway. 

“Less awkward than I thought it would,” he replies after a pause.

“Less awkward is good…wait, does that mean it was still awkward?” I ask. 

“We’re still…working on this. There’s a lot of shit we need to sort through. To be honest it was less awkward speaking to Jess,” he answers. 

“Jess?”

“Her girlfriend,”

“Oh right,” I mull over what he’s said for a second. “Are you…okay?” 

He makes a noise half a sigh, half a laugh.

“Yeah. It was…good. I feel like we’re making some progress,” 

I bite my lip. I’m so happy for him. 

“I’m so happy,” I blurt out “I’m so proud of you,”

There’s a brief silence, then I hear a breathy chuckle. 

“You’re cute,” he says. He sounds so matter of fact, but I can feel my ears burn. I decide to ignore that sentence and carry on.

“I’m serious, you’ve come so far and you’re putting so much effort into this, into reconnecting with Val and…getting back on track, I’m seriously so proud,” I’m pretty sure I’ve said serious way to many times in the last minute or so, but I want him to get it. 

“Art…thank you,” he says after a brief pause. I smile. 

“Dude, this is literally my job. Supportive boyfriend 101,”

I curl deeper into my mattress, shifting the phone to my other ear. I hear Robert laugh lightly.

“I was serious you know,” he says. I stifle a yawn.

“About what?” I ask. I’m so tired right now, it’s like speaking to Robert has calmed me down and now the tiredness has hit me like a wave.

“You. You’re the cutest,” 

I’m pretty sure I’m still blushing as I fall asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> So super fluffy so far, but I'm planning on some stuuuffff happening to Artemis (nothing major major, just I want to write some protective!Robert) and it's going to follow their relationship through a few life events.  
> Also this is my first fic ...so...yeah. Lemme know what you think maybe? 
> 
> I named Val's gf...pretty sure she hasn't got a name in canon?
> 
> Oh and don't worry there won't be any legit cult related action....or will there? Nah there won't, I'm just kidding.


End file.
